If Donald Trump picks Sen. Marco Rubio As his running mate, Rubio, the fluent Spanish-speaking son of Cuban immigrants from Florida, would make history as the first Latino vice presidential candidate, and he would also take the final step in changing his candidacy. Trump’s opponent is loyal.
The question behind the choice It would have been Rubiothe Cuban-American son of a bartender and hotel maid, and his high political rise could mobilize some Latino and other voters toward the Trump ticket.
Although Trump won the Latino vote in 2020 compared to 2016, he still rejected it. almost two-thirds the number of Latino voters in the last presidential election. Polls show Trump gaining more Latino support this year.
Manuel Tapia, 54, an optician and Air Force veteran in Tucson, Arizona, who already plans to vote for Trump, said having a Latino on the ticket with Trump “makes a lot of sense.”
“I think that society and the whole country will be in better hands. … They can combine their beliefs and upbringings and come together to do something better for everyone, rather than one sided,” Tapia, who voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020, said of the Trump-Rubio ticket.
Rubio would have the ability to campaign fluently in English and Spanish is the main wealthsaid Giancarlo Sopo, a communications strategist who worked on Hispanic media strategy for Trump in 2020 but was not involved in this year’s campaign.
“Republicans are making big gains with Anglo-dominated Latinos; “Mainstream news sources are struggling more with Spanish-language media outlets,” Sopo said. Democrats had a 40 percent advantage among Latinos who get their news in Spanish and a 13-point advantage among those who read it in English. is a survey conducted In October 2022 on behalf of Republican groups.
Despite Trump’s new Latino voters in 2020, the GOP has not made similar gains in Latino voters in the midterm elections, said Bernard Fraga, a political science professor at Emory University and author of “The Turnout Gap.”
Having Rubio on the ticket could bring out Latinos who would otherwise stay home, Fraga said.
According to the Associated Press, more than half Most Latino voters in Florida voted for Rubio and Gov. Ron DeSantis in the 2022 midterm elections. In 2020, Trump won less than half of Florida’s Latino vote (46%).
The large number of new, young and disaffected Latino voters — 36.2 million Hispanics are eligible to vote this year — gives Rubio room to appeal to voters with his heritage and family history, his Christian faith and his expertise on foreign policy and taxes. and other topics.
“For Rubio, this is a story of mobilizing Latino Republicans. “He’s not going to convert a lot of people, but he could galvanize and make it easier for Republicans to convince Latinos that the party cares about them,” Fraga said.
Jason Villalba, chairman and CEO of the Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation, who left the GOP and now says he’s an independent, said Rubio could soften the ticket for some Republicans.
“If Rubio is on that ticket, that gives me some comfort because I know that even though Rubio has a MAGA veneer to wear, he’s certainly a thoughtful, articulate presence that will resonate with some people on that ticket,” Villalba said.
Can cultural pride trump Trump?
While Rubio’s background is a source of pride for some Latinos, that doesn’t mean it will translate into votes.
Marcel Lopez, 20, a Mexican-American student at Arizona State University, said it’s “great to have Latinos out there, you know, closer and closer to the presidency.” I mean, vice president is as close as you get without actually being president.
But for him, Trump’s felony conviction overshadows Rubio’s presence on the ticket. Electing Rubio would be “neat,” “but will it affect my vote? Probably not.”
Dina Ramirez-Crump, 50, a Mexican American mammography technician in Tucson, said having Rubio on the ticket won’t change her mind about supporting President Joe Biden, and likely won’t change the minds of other Latino voters. He voted for Biden in 2020 and Hillary Clinton in 2016.
“He didn’t stand his ground to represent the Latino community,” Ramirez-Crump said of Rubio. “He was very carefree with people. … He will vote one way and then change his mind. … It’s everything designed to serve his purpose, to meet his needs.”
Rubio’s job changes are under more scrutiny now that he is on the running list. He once said that the media, voters and people on the right will one day have to explain and justify “how they are”. fell into this trap from supporting Trump.” But he has since dismissed his past criticism as campaign material.
Rubio was among the senators who voted to confirm Biden’s 2020 nomination, despite Trump’s attempts to overturn the results and ongoing allegations of a stolen election. Recently, there is Rubio refused to say He repeats Trump whether he will commit to accepting the results of the 2024 elections.
In recent Noticias Telemundo interviewRubio calls Trump Hitler-like immigrants “to poison the blood“about the country” was just “a word he used” and not a reflection of his views on race — a sharp evolution since Rubio’s declaration. Trump’s infamous 2015 comments about Mexicans as “criminals” and “rapists” was “divisive” and “aggressive”.
Jose Dante Parra is a Democratic strategist who oversaw Latino outreach to Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, who helped Reid win re-election in 2010. He said a Hispanic surname on the GOP ticket would definitely help Republicans, but “I think it can be neutralized. [Democrats] let him show his true face.”
“They need to identify him as someone with no backbone, someone who will be with or against society depending on where the political winds blow for him,” he said.
“The most obvious example is his current position on immigration,” Parra said, adding that Rubio now shares the same position with Trump after endorsing him. The 2013 immigration billit would double the number of Border Patrol agents and allow millions of people in the country to gain legal status illegally.
Rubio once called Trump’s mass deportation plans “unrealistic,” he recently told NBC News. He supports Trump’s promise to carry the largest mass deportation in American history and using the military and local law enforcement to do so.
Marlon Gonzalez, a 34-year-old Central Florida Republican who addressed Trump in Orlando in 2020, said he thinks Rubio has all the credentials for the job, but prefers the vice presidency. Senator JD Vance of Ohio because he doesn’t believe Rubio will stick with Trump.
“That’s one of the things I’m a little concerned about,” Gonzalez said, “when things don’t go his way, he can kind of quit.”
Victor Martinez, a radio show host who owns several Pennsylvania radio stations, said he thinks Rubio’s reach in the Latino community outside of Florida is limited. He also said there are mixed feelings among some Puerto Ricans, who make up the majority of Pennsylvania’s Latino voters: Although Rubio has long supported statehood For Puerto Rico, he also said that a few years ago There was not enough support in the Senate yet and that statehood”can wait”, which worried some supporters of statehood.
That position “doesn’t help him,” Martinez said.
But Michael La Rosa, a local Pennsylvania Democrat who is Biden’s special assistant and Jill Biden’s press secretary, wrote recently. New York Times opinion article Rubio is the Republican vice president who scares him the most because he can tap into cultural pride and transcend ideological and partisan differences.
Tapia, an optician in Tucson, said he thinks Rubio will help the Republican ticket.
“I think when people realize that this gentleman is here to help Trump,” he said, “it’s going to make a big difference.”